Well, I am off to Comic Con, so this is the first on my auto-update blogs that feel so life like as if I am actually here, blogging to you in real time. Today is I present to you a very special Axe Cop guest episode by one of my best friends and favortie artists/writers of all time, Doug TenNapel. This episode was written by his 5 year old daughter Olivia. I think it may be a cooler experience for you to see the “making of” video first, then read the strip, so first, watch this:
What is really funny about that video if you know Olivia is that she is one of the rowdiest and roughest little girls you'll ever meet, but gets super camera shy. So, from that video I give you the episode that came of it:
Now, if you are not familar with Doug's work, you really should be. He is one of the most prolific graphic novelsits of our time and also one of the greatest guys in comics. His new book, Ghostopolis just went out on Scholastic and the movie rights were bought by Disney and the Hugh Jackman attached himself to play the lead roll. It's seriously a GREAT all ages book which I helped color and have read a couple times. The only other place I have ever seen so much imagination in one place is… well, Axe Cop. So take that as a recommendation, not saying it is like Axe Cop in style, but it is similar in the sense that it has a pretty giant imagination behind it… heck it even has mummy squirrels. You can buy it at your local book store or click the image below to buy it on Amazon:
The story of how I met Doug is an interesting one. I went to Comic Con as a very naive 21 year old looking for my “calling” so to speak. I was a young Christian kid who didn't think comics were anything really worth pursuing. I met Doug there, who is also a Christian, and he became an instant hero because I bought his book (brand new at the time) Creature Tech. This book became one of my all time favorites. Long story short… Doug gave me relentless amounts of advice throughout the process of making a few really bad comic series before I even got to Chumble Spuzz. Any time I asked a question he gave a thorough answer, and I took him at his word. He gave me the Master Splinter treatment and there is a good chance that if I had never met Doug TenNapel i would have given up on comics a long time ago.
The San Diego Comic Con when I met Doug was in 2002. 8 years later we're sharing a booth, and he has a reissue of Creature Tech coming out this year with new pin ups in it. Guess who got to do one?
That is basically the whole book on one page. I put a lot of love into that drawing, but to get a better look at it you will need to buy the book. I don't know when it will be available (should be out this month some time) but you have to make sure to get the Image Comics version and not the Top Shelf version if you want my pin up to be in it. The cover should look like this:
-Ethan
